Unveiling a Critical Vulnerability: Exposing AWS Credentials in a Penetration Test

Introduction

Greetings, everyone! I’m Santosh Kumar Sha, a security researcher from Assam, India. In this article, I’ll recount a critical vulnerability I discovered during a penetration test for a client, where AWS credentials were exposed in the source code of a login.php function. This finding highlights the importance of secure coding practices and the need for vigilant security monitoring. Inspired by the methodology outlined in this Medium blog, I aim to share the steps taken to identify and mitigate this serious issue.

SPECIAL Note:

In today’s cloud-centric world, this incident highlights a critical lesson in secure coding practices. Hardcoding AWS credentials or any sensitive information within the source code is a grave security risk that can lead to unauthorized access and severe consequences. It’s crucial to always follow secure coding guidelines and best practices to protect sensitive data. Furthermore, organizations should implement robust security monitoring and automated checks to promptly detect and mitigate such vulnerabilities. As security professionals, we must remain vigilant and proactive in safeguarding our digital assets to prevent potential breaches and protect user data.

During a routine penetration test for a client, I began my investigation by examining the source code of various web pages. When I reached the login.php page, something unusual caught my…